Divers work under water at various tasks, either at sea or inland in rivers, lakes, canals and reservoirs. They may carry out many different duties depending on their skills, the industry they work in and the breathing equipment they use. A wide range of industries use divers, for example:

• offshore diving – mainly used in the offshore oil and gas industry for exploring and surveying sites, and building, repairing and inspecting drilling platforms and pipelines
• inland and inshore diving – often used in civil engineering and construction work (for example, demolition and salvage, or building and repairing projects such as sewage outlets, docks or harbours), or in fish farming
• media diving – underwater filming or photography
• scientific or archaeological diving – collecting samples, investigating underwater historical sites or conducting research
• police diving – searching for and recovering missing persons or evidence
• with the Royal Navy
• recreational/sports diving – teaching SCUBA diving skills or leading groups of recreational divers.

Diving is divided into four main categories according to depth of the dive and the breathing gear used:

• SCUBA (Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus): using an air tank and flippers – mainly used for recreational, media and police diving
• Restricted Surface Supplied: using an air line to the surface - usually used in commercial inshore/inland diving
• Surface Supplied: using a hot water suit, air line and open diving bells - mainly used in offshore diving
• Closed Bell (also known as Saturation Diving): using a diving bell and mixed gas for deep sea diving – often used in surveying, marine archaeology and scientific diving.

Hours and Environment

The amount of time divers are allowed to spend underwater is strictly controlled, but they tend to work long, intensive hours. Many diving jobs are short-term contracts.

Diving is a high-risk activity. Divers must wear protective clothing and breathing apparatus appropriate to the depth and type of dive they are doing. Working underwater can be cold and dark, and often dirty, especially if diving in inland sites in industrial or urban areas.

Divers working on some offshore jobs may have to live for up to 28 days in pressure chambers which simulate undersea pressure.

Diving can cause health problems, and divers must pass regular, strict medical examinations.

Skills and Interests

To be a diver you should be:

• an excellent swimmer
• physically fit with high levels of strength and stamina
• able to concentrate on a job under very demanding physical conditions
• able to follow safety procedures
• able to work both as part of a team and alone.

Entry

Before beginning diver training, you must pass a thorough medical carried out by a doctor approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). You must also pass a medical each year throughout your diving career.

You will find it useful to have experience of recreational diving before training as a commercial diver, but it is not essential. Many diving schools offer tests which can help you decide whether you would be suited to working underwater.

You do not need academic qualifications to begin diver training. However, to work as a professional diver you will need to have the right technical skills and academic qualifications for your industry, as well as having diving skills. For example:

• divers surveying in the offshore industry might have a degree in an engineering or science subject
• construction divers might have qualifications in welding or non-destructive testing
• a nautical archaeologist would have a degree in archaeology
• a scientific diver may might have a degree in oceanography or marine biology
• police or armed forces divers are usually already serving in the force.

To be a working diver in Great Britain, you must have a HSE-approved qualification suitable for the type of diving. There are different levels of HSE certification, including:

• HSE SCUBA
• HSE Surface Supplied
• HSE Surface Supplied Top-up (offshore top-up)
• HSE Closed Bell.

may increase your chances of finding commercial diving work by holding more than one type of HSE qualification. See the Training section for more details.

Employers will also often expect you to have specialised first-aid training from a HSE-approved centre. You can often combine this with your practical diving training.

Training

You must gain at least one HSE diving qualification (see Entry section) at a HSE-approved diver training centre. The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) recommends that commercial divers have the Surface Supplied and Surface Supplied Top-up qualifications as a minimum. Each course can take up to five weeks.

Several centres offer SCUBA and Surface Supported training, but Closed Bell is less common. The Underwater Centre is the only training provider in the UK that offers all levels of training including Closed Bell. See website for more details.

See the HSE website for more information on qualifications and approved training providers in the UK.

For offshore work, you must also pass an offshore survival course, which may also be known as emergency response training, or basic offshore induction and emergency training (BOSIET). See Cogent’s website for more details and a list of approved training providers.

You may need extra skills training for certain jobs, for example:

• underwater tools training, for welders
• non-destructive testing in a marine environment, for technicians.

To become a SCUBA diving instructor, you will need to take a series of courses from a sport diving organisation such as the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). The first stage with PADI is to become a Divemaster, who can assist fully-qualified instructors, lead guided dives and teach snorkelling. To qualify as a Divemaster you will need:

• PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
• PADI Rescue Diver, or an equivalent from another diving organisation
• at least twenty logged dives.

After qualifying as a Divemaster and reaching sixty logged dives you can join PADI’s Instructor Development Course (IDC), which is in two parts:

• Assistant Instructor, and
• Open Water SCUBA Instructor.

After passing both parts of the IDC and reaching 100 logged dives, you can qualify as a PADI Instructor. See the PADI website for more details.

Opportunities

Most divers are self-employed. They can be employed in:

• civil engineering and construction
• the offshore oil and gas industries
• marine and archaeological research
• film, TV and photography.

Divers will usually gain commercial inshore experience before moving into offshore work. Many diving jobs are short-term contracts, so divers must be flexible and be prepared to travel to look for work. Most commercial diving work is centred around coastal ports and harbours.

Opportunities are available to work overseas, particularly Australia and the Indian Ocean. Other countries may demand different diving qualifications, so divers may need to take extra training before being able to work in some countries.

As technology improves, more underwater tasks can be carried out by remote-operated vehicles (ROVs), but ROVs have not replaced the need for skilled divers.

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only. Most divers are paid by the day, and work on average around 200 days a year, but the actual amount they will earn each year will depend on each contract.

Civil engineering inshore divers usually earn between £60 and £150 a day.
Offshore divers working in the UK oil and gas industry earn about £270 a day.
Very experienced closed bell divers can earn up to £1000 a day.
Archaeological divers may earn around £100 to £150 a day. 

Further information

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